Archives: July 2010

The iPhone added stereo Bluetooth capability some time ago, but I have yet to try it. Finding quality with affordable prices is sometimes difficult so I never looked very far. There are times when wireless stereo headphones can come in pretty handy so I was excited to test out the P311 headphones from Arctic Sounds. Most mornings I workout early …

While it might seem incredible to some that it has been 20 years since the release of the hit hip-hop single Ice Ice Baby by rapper Rob Van Winkle (Vanilla Ice), look at that outfit … I … I really just don’t even know what to say. To celebrate the anniversary, here is the version I have always preferred: Jim …

The other day I needed to make some adjustments behind my television. I needed both hands but I also need a light illuminating the right spot where the cable connections we. So I grabbed a small flashlight, stuck it between my teeth, and did what I needed to do. It dropped on the ground three times and… well you know …

If you’re like me, you probably don’t give much thought to your wallet. It holds stuff, then slowly parts of it disintegrate, or it gets worn and uncomfortable to carry, so it’s time for a new one. Mine all look essentially the same; I tend to favor plain leather wallets with plenty of pockets to hold credit cards, business cards, …

Welcome to July 26, 2010, or what the folks in Dearborn, Michigan are calling “Ford Explorer Day.” Ford Motor Company has become known for segment-defining vehicles in its rich history. The Model T, the Model A, F-series pickup, the OG pony car Ford Mustang and a vehicle that began a new revolution when introduced in 1990, the Ford Explorer sport …

Alphasmart NEO Portable Electronic Keyboard It has a full-size keyboard so it is definitely not pocketable and a sports a 5.75″ x 1.5″ Mono Liquid Crystal display which shows a “generous” 2 to 6 lines of type. It has a whopping 512K memory. It runs on 3 AA batteries. It has no ability to connect to the internet. Finally, to …

I spend a lot of time on my own. My family is in Austin, but I work in Sunnyvale, leaving me with a two-week period where I’m, in essence, a bachelor who doesn’t date. So when I’m in Sunnyvale, I revert to my true nerd state, spending extra time at work, obsessing over work-related details, making a nuisance of myself …

Although I don’t own a Sonos system, it’s something that I’ve considered purchasing several times in the past. Sonos’ wireless, multi-room music system keeps getting more tempting, too, by adding new features, including streaming services and an iPhone app. Wolfgang’s Vault, on the other hand, I’ve been using for a while. (In fact, you can find a couple of Gear …

I’ve been finding myself using the “snap-on-back-cover” style of case with my iPad more and more lately. I prefer the ease at which this style case allows me access to the iPad’s screen. There’s no cover to peel back and no annoying tab to push out of the way. The Speck SeeThru SATIN case has quickly become one of my …

Say what you will about iTunes and the electronic age’s impact on music and the music industry but one thing is clear — they have been great about is giving talented people exposure long before they might come to the attention of agents, scouts and record labels. That’s the case with Applegirl, who caught the world’s attention with her rendition of …

Here is an early draft of the email I sent to Apple accessory-maker TwelveSouth yesterday after opening their new Compass Mobile Stand for the Apple iPad. My name is Dan Cohen and I am one of Gear Diary’s Editors. I just bought a Compass and will be reviewing soon. It is by far one of, if not the, best accessories …

I love social media. I tweet. I run a website. I have a Facebook page. Gear Diary has two Facebook pages. But sometimes … sometimes it just goes too far. Sometimes people lose site of the public nature of these things … or maybe it is just that they don’t use good judgment. Regardless of the reasons, let me tell you a …

The more things change, the more some things seem to stay the same. Take Nissan’s Titan fullsize pickup. When first introduced it bowed with the highest power in the half-ton segment nearly eight years ago and was one of the first to offer more than four gears in an automatic. As we approach the arrival of the 2011 model vehicles …

Amazon, Kobo, and Borders have all weighed in with their ebook apps for Android, and now it’s B&N’s turn. They’ve rebranded all their reader apps to “nook”, and finally they’ve released the nook app for Android. Right from the start, the nook app and I didn’t get off on the right foot. It almost froze the marketplace trying to download! …

There is nothing worse than starting up a game and getting an error message like the one above – you have done everything right, installed everything, logged into the account, even played before using all of this content. But now, you log in and cannot start the game, and are told that you are not authorized to use the content …

Amazon announced this morning that they’ve struck an exclusive deal with literary agent Andrew Wylie. He’s acting as a publisher for several authors he represents, and has agreed to give Amazon an exclusive on 20 titles. You can check out the full press release here, but the highlights are: Books available in the Kindle Store through Odyssey Editions include modern …

If you have ever seen the Blue Man Group live, you know how amazing their performances are. If not, you are missing out on some wonderful live entertainment and should make every effort to check them out. They are always interesting and always changing things up. Recently Playbill noted that the Blue Man Group would be bringing out a new …

(image courtesy Skidmore Unofficial) There’s no doubt that ebooks are taking marketshare from regular books, and the marketplace is getting very crowded with companies attempting to grab a slice of the action. e-Textbooks, on the other hand, have been a much tougher sell. The Kindle famously flamed out in various university trials, and it’s too early to tell if the …

As I mentioned in my iPad review, I had bought that version of Mystery of the Crystal Portal for my iPad when I was heading out on vacation. When I got a message from G5 offering a review code for the PSP Minis version, I quickly accepted but also immediately knew there might be significant enough control and graphics differences …

I remember reading a report early this year from the UK showing that in an age of declining physical music media sales, the only positive note was that sales of LP’s, those classic 12″ 33-1/3 RPM vinyl records, had doubled in 2009! Of course, the numbers are still small but they show there is an audience for classic vinyl records. …